← Bees H29-03 · Module 3 of 7 · Pages: 19 · Worksheets: 5

The beekeeping year month by month

What to do in the apiary each month, how to inspect a colony, a forage calendar from willow to ivy and how to move bees to forage

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The beekeeping year month by month

In short

  • The beekeeping year starts in August: winter bees and stores decide the spring.
  • In the season, inspect every 7–9 days, in warm, calm weather, between 10 am and 4 pm.
  • Add a super before the main flow, when the brood box is full of bees, not when the flow is already on.
  • Extract only ripe honey: at least two-thirds of the frame capped.
  • Straight after the last harvest, measure varroa and start treating (H29-05).
  • To move bees you may need a permit and a health certificate; check with the competent authority.

What's inside

Chapters

  1. The colony through the year
  2. How to inspect
  3. What the entrance tells you
  4. The forage calendar
  5. Winter: November–February
  6. Early spring: March–April
  7. Main flows: May–July
  8. Summer after the flow: August
  9. Autumn: September–October
  10. Mild coasts, uplands and North America
  11. Moving bees to forage
  12. Time and money through the year
  13. Common mistakes
  14. Printable checklist

Worksheets

  • The beekeeping-year calendar
  • My area's forage calendar
  • Inspection log
  • Seasonal hive card
  • Honey and time calculator

Fields and checkboxes can be filled in with Adobe Acrobat Reader (desktop and mobile), and the calculator adds up by itself. Filling in may not work in some browsers. A print version comes with the screen PDF.

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